Oddball currency questions
#31
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: DEL
Posts: 1,057
Which one is cheaper tends to be a crapshoot, though if forced to guess I'd say that Transferwise is usually cheaper. Visa/MC exchange rates change once a day, whereas Transferwise updates their rate much more often. Transferwise gets a little less than 1% in fees for USD -> GBP, but Visa/MC's rate is generally off by around 1%. Either way, we're talking a tiny difference--maybe enough to buy a couple cups of coffee--unless there's a major exchange rate fluctuation during the day or you're moving amounts of money that are too high to get out of an ATM and more than I'd want to schlep around in GBP 20 notes
OP, it sounds like you trust the B&B owner, so if you don't want to deal with a stack of 20s I'm sure she'd be happy for you to send payment with a bank transfer, which you can do easily with Transferwise.
Last edited by der_saeufer; Mar 12, 2019 at 9:52 am
#32
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2017
Location: ORD
Posts: 369
I'm beginning to think a stack of 20s is the simplest solution.
#33
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: Economy, mostly :(
Programs: Skywards Gold
Posts: 7,801
Having thought about it some more, the trouble with a bank transfer is the mess we might find ourselves in if we had to cancel the trip after we'd initiated the transfer and I had to rely on her to transfer the money back to me. The last time we stayed at one of her properties, she was happy to come back a day or two after we'd arrived to collect payment, so maybe she'd be OK with a bank transfer after we arrived?
I'm beginning to think a stack of 20s is the simplest solution.
I'm beginning to think a stack of 20s is the simplest solution.
#35
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2017
Location: ORD
Posts: 369
#36
Join Date: Mar 2004
Location: Newcastle, UK
Programs: BA Silver, IHG Gold, Hilton Gold, Hertz 5*, Avis Preferred Plus, Amex Plat
Posts: 2,080
The bank may take the old £1 coins off you if you ask nicely, although they often restrict it to customers. Try a Post Office too. Failing that, as mentioned above, your landlady might be willing to do it. If more than £20, bag them up in lots of 20 (bags available from a branch).
#37
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2017
Location: ORD
Posts: 369
Yep. Simplest all round.
The bank may take the old £1 coins off you if you ask nicely, although they often restrict it to customers. Try a Post Office too. Failing that, as mentioned above, your landlady might be willing to do it. If more than £20, bag them up in lots of 20 (bags available from a branch).
The bank may take the old £1 coins off you if you ask nicely, although they often restrict it to customers. Try a Post Office too. Failing that, as mentioned above, your landlady might be willing to do it. If more than £20, bag them up in lots of 20 (bags available from a branch).
#38
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: London
Posts: 1,117
#39
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2017
Location: ORD
Posts: 369
I must say I'm surprised - my bank wouldn't hesitate to except $50 or $100 bills to deposit in my accounts there, provided they weren't counterfeit. Granted, not every business would be happy to accept them, even genuine ones, but banks certainly would.
#40
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: London
Posts: 1,117
There'd be no problem depositing them at a bank. It's paying shops and businesses, trades people, cleaners etc with £50 notes that can be more problematic.
#41
Join Date: Nov 2006
Programs: Seniors Bus Pass
Posts: 5,529
Your landlady is unlikely to be depositing your cash into the bank. She will prefer the £20's as she will be using them for normal spending and they are the desired note. I have not had a £50 note in my pocket so far this decade - and can't recall when I last spent one, whereas in the same period I have had and spent loads of US $100's and $50's - it is the way we do things here! UK ATM's don't issue £50's, only £20's and £10's.
#42
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,344
The whole premise of this thread is a bit confusing.
If you needed to pay $500 in cash in the USA, would there be a problem with 25 $20 bills? What about $1000 in $20s? Is that considered "low-class"???
Although I find counting US bills to be more difficult, they don't slide easily off each other like UK paper notes.
If you needed to pay $500 in cash in the USA, would there be a problem with 25 $20 bills? What about $1000 in $20s? Is that considered "low-class"???
Although I find counting US bills to be more difficult, they don't slide easily off each other like UK paper notes.
#43
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: London
Posts: 1,117
Though of course if we only consider Bank of England notes, the £5 and £10 are polymer (plastic) already and the £20 and £50 are heading that way (the new polymer £20 is coming in 2020, the £50 later). And several of the Scottish notes are polymer already.
#44
Original Poster
Join Date: May 2017
Location: ORD
Posts: 369
The whole premise of this thread is a bit confusing.
If you needed to pay $500 in cash in the USA, would there be a problem with 25 $20 bills? What about $1000 in $20s? Is that considered "low-class"???
Although I find counting US bills to be more difficult, they don't slide easily off each other like UK paper notes.
If you needed to pay $500 in cash in the USA, would there be a problem with 25 $20 bills? What about $1000 in $20s? Is that considered "low-class"???
Although I find counting US bills to be more difficult, they don't slide easily off each other like UK paper notes.
Last edited by TribalistMeathead; Mar 19, 2019 at 2:13 pm
#45
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: NW London and NW Sydney
Programs: BA Diamond, Hilton Bronze, A3 Diamond, IHG *G
Posts: 6,344
Going OT, I find that Australian series 1, Australian series 2, Canadian, UK and NZ polymer notes all feel very different from each other, and Canadian notes have a distinctive smell too.